1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to devices for sealing opposing flexible sheets or bags by clamping the sheet material between inter-engaging clamp members. More specifically, the invention is directed to providing uniquely configured inter-engaging clamp members wherein the outer member is configured to frictionally receive an elongated inner member so as to compress and seal the material therebetween and wherein the inner member includes opposing wall segments which are compressible relative to one another to thereby reduce the effective cross section of the inner member by application of pressure to opposing flanges which are provided on either side of the opening between the opposing wall segments thereof. In the preferred embodiment, the opposing flanges which are utilized to compress the inner clamp member are connected to the compressible wall segments by upwardly extending wall portions which serve to provide a mechanical advantage when compressing the flanges toward one another thus reducing the amount of pressure necessary to urge the wall segments toward one another to thereby facilitate the insertion or withdrawal of the inner clamp member relative to the outer clamp member.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the outer clamp member includes a base portion having an elongated channel formed therein in which cards or other indicia bearing material may be placed to indicate the contents of the bag being sealed or, in the alternative, in which specially shaped magnets may be placed so as to allow the attachment of the sealing device to a metallic surface.
In another embodiment, a plurality of sealing assemblies are selectively retained in tracks which are secured to cabinets or walls.
2. History of the Related Art
At some point in time almost everyone is confronted with the necessity to seal bags, packages or containers which have been opened in order to access the contents thereof. Once some packages have been opened, such as packages for distributing food products, the food products may deteriorate or lose their freshness if left exposed to ambient conditions. At other times, it may be necessary to seal products which may have already deteriorated or which may have offensive odors so that such items may be retained for disposal or future use. Another instance wherein sealing of the contents of bags is important is when food products are enclosed within bags for freezing. Such enclosures must be completely sealed to prevent the escape of moisture from the products as they are frozen.
Although bags are currently available which have integrally formed locking mechanisms or seals, there are many types of bags and other receptacles which are not designed to be self-sealing and therefore must be sealed utilizing mechanical closures. In some instances, people have used paper and other office supply clips, rubberbands and the like to facilitate the closing of bags, however, such closures do not seal the contents of bags even in those instances where the upper edges of the bags are folded over upon themselves to form lapped seams. To obtain not only a closing of flexible wall bags or containers but a sealing of the contents thereof, various mechanical clamps have been designed which utilize inter-engaging components which compress the upper edges of the bag therebetween.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,221 to Faulls, Jr., several types of closures for sealing flexible bags are disclosed wherein a yieldable open channel member is provided into which a yieldable insert member is cooperatively seated. The patent discloses that the closure members may have varying cross sections and shows the use of semi-cylindrical closure members and triangular closure members. In use, the upper edges of a bag are placed within the open channel member and thereafter the insert member urged therein to compress the upper edges of the bag against the inner walls of the channel member. Other engagements are made by sliding the outer channel member over the edges of a bag which are draped over the insert member. In either case, the difficulty with such closure devices is that they are often difficult to assembly and disassemble, especially when utilizing the snap-fitting of clamping members. In those instances where the clamping members must be longitudinally shifted relative to one another, it is possible that the upper edges of a bag can be damaged, thus making it difficult to reseal a bag in an efficient manner.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,266,711 to Song, another type of bag closure device is disclosed which incorporates an elongated open channel locking member to which is pivotally attached a compression rod which is seated within the channel to bind the upper edges of a bag therebetween. To allow opening of the clamping members relative to one another in this closure device, it is necessary that the seated rod extend beyond the open channel clamping member so that the two members may be pulled apart by utilizing the leverage provided by the extended portion of the rod. However, even with the mechanical advantage offered by the extension of one of the clamping members relative to the other, it is often difficult to retain the open channel clamping member in a fixed position while pulling the rod therefrom and thus some individuals have difficulty in separating the members once they have been placed in locked relationship with respect to one another.
In U.S. Pat. No. Des. 301,548, a clamping assembly similar to that of Song is disclosed wherein a hook is provided extending from the end of the rod member which is seated within the open channel of the outer clamping member in order to allow an individual to obtain an additional grip to disengage the components. In this apparatus, the base clamping member is also provided with flanges along its length to further allow an individual to grasp the opposing clamping members to facilitate their separation.
Additional examples of interlocking yieldable bag closure devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,621,539 to Ayers and 4,534,089 to Swan.